International Assessment for Indian Schools 1. Sample papers for Australian Students a. Science – III & IV, V & VI, VII & VIII, IX & X b. Math – I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII 2. Sample papers for Indian Students a. English – III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII b. Computer – III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII c. Math – III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII d. Science – III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII ETC Science Competition skills and processes Unit: Level 1 These questions are suitable for Years 3 and 4 students in NSW, or their equivalent. They show the types of skills tested, the methods of asking questions and the solutions to the questions. The examples are given in order of difficulty. They are multiple-choice questions. To answer the questions, select the best answer from the four options given. To check your answer and your thinking, a solutions section follows at the end of the unit. Australian Schools Science Competition Years 3/4 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW1 1. Which glass object shown would be the best to measure an amount of water? (A)(cid:1) (B) (C) (D) 2. Rocks are made up of one or more different minerals. The block below contains three different minerals. From which of these large sections of rock was the block cut? (A) (B) (C) (D) 2Australian Schools Science Competition Years 3/4 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW 3. The table shows the weather and when students saw cockatoos and seagulls in the school playground during one week. Cockatoos are most likely to visit the school playground on a day that is (A) hot. (B) cold. (C) windy. (D) calm. 4. Four students each built a bridge. They tested the four bridges to see which was strongest. The diagrams show how much weight each bridge could hold up. Which two things could you do to change the strength of the bridge? (A) Change the thickness of the cardboard and the span width. (B) Change the height of the bridge and the span width. (C) Change the height of the bridge and the size of the blocks. (D) Change the thickness of the cardboard and the size of the blocks. Australian Schools Science Competition Years 3/4 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW3 5. Some students saw a teacher put a plastic bag over some leaves on a plant on a sunny day. One day later, they saw drops of water on the inside of the plastic bag. The teacher explained that the water had come from the leaves of the plant. The students thought this method might also work to find out if soil has water in it. They set up the pots below and put them in a sunny place. Their method of testing for water in soil worked successfully. What must the students have observed in the experiment? (A) Water formed on the inside of the plastic bag over pot X only. (B) Water formed on the inside of the plastic bag over pot Y only. (C) Water formed on the inside of both plastic bags. (D) Water formed on the inside of neither plastic bag. 4Australian Schools Science Competition Years 3/4 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW 6. Some children wanted to know what surface snails like to move over. To answer this question they made a board and covered it with four different materials. Five snails were put into a circle in the middle. plastic sandpaper wood paper The students recorded where the snails were after 10 minutes. They repeated this four times. The results are shown below. Number of snails on Trial Plastic Sandpaper Paper Wood number 1 4 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 1 3 2 0 1 2 4 2 1 1 1 5 3 0 1 1 Why is it better to use a different group of snails for each of the five trials? (A) The snails may just go to the nearest surface. (B) The first five snails may like different things from most other snails. (C) The snails may follow a trail made by other snails. (D) The snails may not remember where they went before. Australian Schools Science Competition Years 3/4 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW5 ETC Science Competition skills and processes Unit: Level 1. Question solutions Q1 the answer is (A). Four glass objects are shown: a measuring cylinder, a test tube, a round bottom flask and a funnel. Graduations (marks), which are only on the measuring cylinder, allow different amounts of water to be measured accurately. Q2 the answer is (D). Options (B), (C) and (D) all contain the three coloured minerals showing in the block, but only option (D) has the black line crossing the layers of the brown mineral and the three minerals in the correct sequence. Q3 the answer is (D). The ticks in the table show some of the weather conditions and the type of bird visiting the playground during one week. The cockatoos visited when it was hot and calm, and when it was cold and calm, but not when it was windy. Therefore they were most likely to visit when it was calm. Q4 the answer is (A). The thickness of the cardboard used for the bridge span, the span width, and the number of weights used to test bridge strength, are the things changing in the experiment. The size and number of the blocks supporting the bridges do not vary. The weights are used to measure the strength of the bridge and do not change its strength. Therefore only the thickness of the cardboard and the width of the span change the strength of the bridge. Q5 the answer is (A). The teacher explained that, when a plastic bag was placed over a plant and water formed on the inside of the plastic bag, the water had come from the plant. For the test to show that water came from the soil in the same manner, the water must form inside the plastic bag over the pot with soil in it (pot X), and water must not form inside the plastic bag over the pot with no soil in it (pot Y). Q6 the answer is (B). The children wanted to know what surface (all) snails liked to move over. Repeating the experiment with different snails would help to make the experimental results more representative of all snails. The first five snails may like different things from most other snails. 6Australian Schools Science Competition Years 3/4 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW ETC Science Competition skills and processes Unit: Level 3 These questions are suitable for Years 7 and 8 students in NSW, or their equivalent. They show the types of skills tested, the methods of asking questions and the solutions to the questions. The examples are given in order of difficulty. They are multiple-choice questions. To answer the questions, select the best answer from the four options given. To check your answer and your thinking, a solutions section follows at the end of the unit. Australian Schools Science Competition Years 7/8 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW1 1. The table shows the characteristics of some flowers which attract specific animals. The characteristics of flowers that mainly attract the animal Animal Size Colour Smell/odour bee small bright blue or yellow – beetle large white spicy or foul butterfly small white – bird large red or yellow – bat large white fruity The key classifies 5 flowers: I, II, III, IV and V. Flower small Size large Colour Colour bright blue or yellow white white red or yellow Odour V I II spicy or foul fruity III IV Which animal would be attracted to flower I and which would be attracted to flower IV? I IV (A) (cid:1) bird (cid:1) beetle (B) (cid:1) bee (cid:1) bird (C) (cid:1) bird (cid:1) bee (D) (cid:1) bee (cid:1) bat 2Australian Schools Science Competition Years 7/8 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW 2. Astudent heated equal masses of black coal, brown coal and wood, in separate test tubes. He wanted to compare them to see which type of coal behaves more like wood and which would be better to use to make methane. The diagram shows one test tube as the experiment was carried out. burning methane tar water material remaining after heating His observations are recorded below. (cid:1) Observation Black coal Brown coal Wood amount of water collected small large large amount of tar collected large small small amount of methane produced large small medium type of material remaining coke charcoal charcoal When heated, which type of coal behaves more like wood, and which type would be better to produce methane? More like wood Better to make methane (A) (cid:1)black (cid:1)black (B) (cid:1)black (cid:1)brown (C) (cid:1)brown (cid:1)black (D) (cid:1)brown (cid:1)brown Australian Schools Science Competition Years 7/8 Educational Testing Centre, UNSW3